BM
This is a West Wimmera Health Service podcast. Presented by me Brigitte Muir.
This series focuses around stories and issues related to health and wellbeing. Some of the people we hear from are sharing their stories, hoping that their experiences will help us with our own health and wellbeing. Please be aware that some of their life experiences may touch on issues that are sensitive to some. Please listen with care. You will find information on seeking help if you need it in the notes attached to each episode.
What do we have former bodybuilding champion and a small town which lost its hotel, milk bar and post office have in common? Undefeated community spirit. I met Marnoo’s Tania Walter at the Burrum Biodynamic farm, which she runs with her husband Steve.
TW
I live on a farm at Marnoo. I was… born in Stawell but I had grandparents that lived… on a farm at Mannibadar, down in the Western District and we will be there for… probably 10 weeks of the year holidaying. So, I knew how… the community rolled and what to do… when it was shearing time and… and how to work with sheep. So, it's a dream for me… to be here on a farm. I got into fitness… in about… 2000 …and from that I've involved… into bodybuilding competition and my most favourite thing to do is to run classes for… local farmers.
BM
And what do you teach your farmers?
TW
Okay, well we run classes every Wednesday. The class has evolved in… three different locations over the last 12 years. But the basic structure is… that we… warm up and then we do a gym circuit. So, that's really weightbearing. Then we do… some Pilates core exercises and stretch.
BM
Who are the farmers who come to your classes?
TW
People that… really are looking for some stress relief. They're looking to farm longer… and live in… in a rural setting for longer. So, they know that their backs… have to be strong. You know, no one's perfect. So, they bring their injuries… with them. And… they know that at our class, that it's a safe space that they can actually work to own level. We've done a lot of work with people who thought that they couldn't ever work out and have actually found improvements and now they don't want to stop. A lot of our participants have been there for five… eight years. And then they brought their families… we can have a mom and a daughter or… husband and wife team. It's been a real family affair. And it's… in Marnoo, that it's all happening. We started in Marnoo. We started a…a private home… with a lot of second hand equipment. It was based at the old general store. Then of course… we went to zoom for a couple of years and that worked fantastic, because the participants who knew each other very well got to catch up, and move and talk. Catch up with how much rainfall they had. Because I've always encouraged a lot of talking… at the class. You know, I think the first third of the class is just chatting. So if there's people that… aren't doing the exercises, that doesn't matter, I structure that first third of the class… just so someone can interact with a person next to them and that's absolutely fine. I encourage that.
BM
I'd say that it's really important when you live your life as a farmer which is quite isolating really. Being alone or not with many people most of the time… to have that opportunity. Is that, you think, way some of the people are coming to the classes?
TW
Ah… absolutely. In fact, when we were going to close the class last year, the participants got together and… reorganised the class to be located at a woolshed. So, we… didn't even have a week off. We were going to have a going away party… and then suddenly we found that we were all… working out of a different location… and the woodshed workout, which we call Rob’s woolshed workout, and thanks Robin and Cam, they set up, what was a stable, that had been altered to a woodshed. We warm up in a barn… and… chat. Then we walk across to the woodshed, where the gym is circuit is… and then we call down and do some core and ab exercises… back in the barn. They didn't want to stop, so… these guys are willing to workout anywhere… and with really simple second hand equipment, and look Bridget you don't need much honestly. We put a notice in there Manu newsletter and… people were ringing us up saying look, we've got an old exercise bike… we've got a few weights here, some dumbbells we'd love to help you out and we made use of equipment that was probably not going to be used and then let's face it, everyone's got a bit of equipment in their cupboard… we utilised that… kept it going. So it's still going strong.
BM
So, why were you going to close? Is it because you were losing your venue?
TW
Yeah, it had…it had run its course. So, we needed somewhere else to go. It was just timing I think with the COVID. So, we came out of the… Zoom era, thankfully and then got back to face to face… and they just didn't want it to stop, and we don't want it to stop, and we certainly don't want it to stop now. Because…
BM
Who’s we?
TW
We is the class, they …they run the class as well as… as I do.
BM
But you are the one who started it, yes?
TW
Yeah, yeah, I started it. But… it's a family affair. You know, we've been through droughts together. We've been through floods together. And now we're going through… the… transmission line… saga, which… is… really stressful for our family farming communities at the moment. Droughts… and floods are one thing… but… being forced to have 100 metre wide… easements on your property with a lot of rules and regulations… and… not… many meaningful questions answered… is highly stressful for the community. So, we… together… will combat our stress as well as we can, by moving by breathing, and by… supporting each other going forward.
BM
A real sense of community.
TW
Yeah, absolutely.
BM
What's the age range… of the participants in your farm fit classes?
TW
We've had as young as… 12 and we've had as… old… as 70. Basically, I don't prepare the class beforehand. I just… see who walks in that door. And I'll have a talk about… what injuries they have. I really like… somebody… to let me know what's going on, or someone could have actually… had an injury… through the week, like someone's pulled a… a tarp back on the truck and the winds blown. So, I now know… that… I'm going to adjust… the exercises to this person, and I'll subtly… make sure that they're not going to do anything that's going to… to increase that injury at all. I like the diversity of the ages. I like that they get to pick their own music… cause that's important. So, they control the class… really.
BM
Any discussions about the … [chuckles] what kind of music we're going to be listening to
TW
Well there's lots of discussions…oh dear …and look, there'll be a lot of protesting if the music's not right
BM
Who wins?
BM & TW
[laughter]
TW
Well, there's… you know, different people come every week, so someone who's 70, might not like AC DC. Often the 80s music wins out… so it could be… a bit of an INXS …combination. Once… we actually didn't have music and …we sang Amazing Grace while we did our plank. It was beautiful.
BM & TW
[chuckles]
BM
You're not just an innovator as far as that goes, because without your energy, I'm sure that group wouldn't have started and you've got the most beautiful energy… and…and enthusiasm. Your also… treating… your farm as a place to learn and to have adventures.
TW
We do things a little differently around here. So, we've got a… national organic certification and it's… an Australian Demeter Biodynamic, certification. So… I have the pleasure of showing a lot of… people around cause I've got… customers that love what we produce for them. Yeah, I like to show people that things can be done differently and… you can still… have a happy, healthy life in a rural setting.
BM
Tell me more about that. Because it's not just producing food, you're also doing something with it.
TW
We can… ream are our seeds. So… we have the ability to… feed… local community and other Victorians… particularly in… the baking industry. And I have my own little mill here that I've mill flour for our local community. And that's a lot of fun.
BM
It seems to me like it's going back to the past and recreating those… extraordinary community links that were the norm with our grandparents.
TW
Yeah, everyone remembers that. And everyone yearns for that connection. And… yeah to be working with the community… and helping… nourish them too, is a great honour. There's so much to offer through these series. The vegetation is superb… and Yeah, going forward. I look forward to working with First Nations and other people that are interested in… their food bowl… and food sovereignty.
BM
So it's all about looking after the land.
TW
Yeah,
BM
and right for you.
TW
Absolutely. And our focus… here is the soil and we're in a position… that we can… feed the soil with multi species cover crops and rest it and that gives us a lot of flexibility and the water infiltration rates here… are very good. We've run a system that's… more closed than usual.
BM
What…What started that?
TW
Well, my husband was always… interested in organics and I'm… interested in the environment. So, it's a great combination. We’ve planted stacks of trees… and so has our community.
BM
Health wise… have you noticed a difference… since you left behind the conventional way of farming?
TW
Yeah… Steve… has a sensitivity to chemicals. So, he certainly feels a lot better… and leaving that conventional farming behind… made us realise that what we were growing was food, so we eat more… of fresh, whole grains. Our energy levels are good… and I can only put that down to you know moving, breathing… good diet. All of those things that just make you more resilient, and I can only… promote… movement throughout all of our rural areas because… it's… there's lots of changes and there's lots of… stressful times coming up as my… as my community are finding at the moment. We've got a yoga teacher here who's absolutely fantastic. And she's being underutilised. So, I think it’s a combination of moving and yoga… will be a great way to reduce your stress levels, particularly… if there's a little bit of anger around you can just come to the gym… and… work off any of that excess anger. Cause look, you don't want to take your frustrations out on your neighbours. This is a very beautiful community. So… come to class and… work it out in the gym. And I reckon… together we can find fabulous solutions… and will promote better outcomes,
BM
The mental health side of things.
TW
Yes, it's so important. And… farming…it's been… quite stressful.
BM
Are there any other outlets in your community for dealing with mental health, like having fun?
TW
Yes, having fun is a great way to reduce and meeting up with each other too. We've been meeting up as much as we can with local farmers… because we're pretty isolated. And I always say look, if you don't need gym equipment, you just need to set aside some time. And if you do that with a friend… because let's face it, you can find a million excuses not to exercise… so… often you need… someone else just to… just to give you a nudge… and off you go. Cause, you know, often you don't want to, you know want to start… within two minutes in. You're like, ‘oh, I don't want to finish’ and then at the end of it you're like ‘oh, I feel so much more energetic’.
BM
Classes…
TW
Yes
BM
Some people, would say that the cost of going to a class… would put them off, but it's a bit different here, isn't it?
TW
It is … yeah. We run classes… for free. It's such a community service… and it's priceless to me because I get to catch up with people, and I get to take… my husband
BM
Steve who just walked into the room
TW
Yeah.
BM & TW
[laughter]
BM
Steve, do you enjoy going to the gym?
SW
Yes, I do enjoy going to the gym. I… probably don't get there as often as I'd like. It's hard to get off the farm some… days… some evenings. Planting crops and stuff… it…it doesn't matter [inaudible]…so
BM
What do you like about… going to the classes?
SW
Oh…look…It's always a good social catch up with… a few other friends… and it's something about… working out… that gets you really centred and grounded again, and… forget about what's going on, on the farm. So, it’s a bit of a reset,
BM
Tania, what would you advise people who may be in the community… who… don't have that person… who may be able to trigger classes… like you are the trigger here, of classes.
TW
If you are isolated, just moving is fantastic. So, make the time if it's just 10 minutes and… I like to use simple equipment. So just, you know, just hold a couple of bottles of water… because that's even going to… help increase your bone density. Walk down the back paddock… and… back. 10 minutes, that's all it can take. You can sort a lot of… worries out by moving… you'd be surprised.
BM
Yes, indeed. Yes, walking… is what does it for me. And I like to do it with someone else and… and I'd say it's reasonably easy to find someone else to do that with, even if you happen to be a middle aged… male who spends a lot of time isolated on a farm. You've got to be willing though, don’t you.
TW
You do… and look the dog going to… love it anyway. So…
BM
The dog
TW
The dog
BM
Go walk the dog!
BM & TW
[laughter]
BM
Thank you, Steven. Thank you, Tania, for having me here today and for sharing your experiences, and… your joy of life with me.
TW
It’s a pleasure, thanks Bridget
BM
That was Tania Walter, biodynamic farmer in Marnoo and… farm fit instructor.
You will find as always contact numbers and details in the notes attached to this episode. And while you're at it, please give us a star rating. We'd also love to hear your comments and suggestions. Our Facebook and Twitter details are in the notes. Until next have a healthy life won’t you.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai edited by the WWHS Health Promotion Team.